Foreign students, except those from the United Kingdom, will be allowed to return to their respective university campuses in Malaysia for the 2021 academic year, as reported by the New Straits Times.
Photo via The Star
In an announcement by the Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that current and new students were allowed to enter the country then, provided that they have a secure accommodation prior to their travel.
“They must ensure that all the necessary things for their stay here first. The normal SOPs will also apply to them.
The students must take a COVID-19 swab test three days before departing for Malaysia. Once they arrive at our airports, they must take another swab test.”
If the test results are negative, the students will be sent to quarantine centres to observe a 10-day mandatory quarantine.
He also added that the cost for testing and quarantine is to be paid for by the students.
Photo via Al Jazeera
Ismail Sabri said that the National Security Council (NSC) has also agreed that students in the international schools would be allowed to return to Malaysia with their respective guardians starting from 1 January 2021.
“However, this permission is only for the current batch of students who have obtained visas from the Immigration Department. The SOPs for them are similar to the ones for international university students.”
When asked if Malaysia would suspend flights from the United Kingdom during a Facebook live session, following reports that a new, more virulent strain of COVID-19 has been detected there, Ismail Sabri said the NSC will make a decision after the Health Ministry conducts a risk assessment on the situation there.
“Our international borders are still closed to all foreign countries except in certain cases. We will discuss this at the NSC level and if there are any updates, either the Health director-general or I will make the announcement,” he said.
Let’s hope that everything goes well!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
